The USA & Canada Hockey Rivalry: It Just Got Bigger

The USA & Canada Hockey Rivalry: It Just Got Bigger

When you speak of sports rivalries, Canada vs USA Hockey wouldn’t be the first you would think of. For some older fans of the sport, Canada vs Russia would be the rival you think of; however, we have a new one now! After what we saw on Saturday night, I’m putting up these two countries with some of the top sports rivalries, such as:

Red Sox vs Yankees

Ohio State vs Michigan (College Football)

Duke vs North Carolina (College Basketball)

Canada vs Russia Hockey

Real Madrid vs Barcelona

These two nations will have met 20 times in best-on-best tournaments coming Thursday since the 1976 Canada Cup. Canada has owned the United States with a 14-4-1 advantage and a 73% win rate.

We just saw one of the greatest games between these two occur this past Saturday, with the United States winning 3-1 in Montreal. We saw three fights within 9 seconds to start this game.

Fight one:

0:02

M. Tkachuk vs Hagel

Fight two:

0:03

B. Tkachuk vs Bennett

Fight three:

0:09

Miller vs Parayko

This feisty start was initiated by the Tkachuk brothers and the Canadian fans booing the national anthem. I don’t recall a better start to a hockey game; we have seen fights to start one, but not three in 9 seconds.

The remainder of the game was a tense, physical and defensive battle. As I mentioned in my preview article, The United States will be difficult to beat with the best goalie in the NHL this year, along with a deep blue line. So far, the defence system has been rock solid.

Injury Update:

Some tough news for the deep blueline: Charlie McAvoy was admitted to the hospital with an upper-body injury, and it was confirmed today that he will miss the Finals. The good news is that Quinn Hughes is coming to replace him.

Market:

I’ve been sitting on a +175 USA outright winner since the start of the tournament.t -105 against Canada on Saturday, and currently, they are slightly I backed them a favoured or even money at -110.

Canada is 3-1 in the finals against the USA and does have the experience advantage in these big games, but I believe we are seeing a change of guard. It’s one game, and anything can happen, but the US has proven to be the better team overall.

Market Lines (Via Bet MGM)

USA -110

Canada -110 

Total 5.5

Top 3 previous meetings

Championship Game 3 – 1996 World Cup of Hockey Final 

Score:

USA 5

Canada 2

This was the United States first and only best-on-best title, and they did it in front of Canadian fans in Montreal. Canada took a 2-1 lead in the game, but the Americans went OFF for four straight goals to win their first title vs Canada.

2010 Olympics gold medal game

Canada 3

USA 2

(in overtime)

This game is remembered for Sidney Crosby's Golden Goal, which is considered the most famous moment between these two teams.

2002 Olympic gold medal game

Canada 5

USA 2

This was a big moment for the USA to build their team for this moment in front of their home crows, but they fell to the better team, Canada. At that time, Canada was going through a big-time drought and had not won gold since 1952. The game had it all: 14 future Hall of Famers, Mario Lemieux’s best career goal, an intense third period, and some say one of the greatest hockey games ever.

Can't Wait!

This past Saturday's game between these two teams was among the best in this rivalry, and of course, we hope Thursday will be the same.

Grab your popcorn, get together with friends or family, and enjoy the biggest new rivalry in hockey—or maybe sports.